While The Earth Sleeps
by kathlaida-princess
Summary: Child Naruto lives his life exploring, until his father the Hokage takes him and his mother to the Sand Village to meet the Fourth Kazekage in diplomatic vacations. There he finds someone unexpected, who he has to teach how to live. AU GaaNaru More inside
1. Prologue

**WHILE THE EARTH SLEEPS**

**by kathlaida-princess**

**Summary: **Inspired by the song "While the Earth Sleeps" by Deep Forest. Child Naruto has the most boring friends in the world, so he usually spends his time exploring all of the Leaf Village, his beautiful home, all by himself. But one day, his father, the Hokage, is invited by the Sand Village's Kazekage to spend some sort of "diplomatic vacations" there, and he brings his wife and his reluctant son with him.

Things soon change when Naruto finds the Sand Village is also interesting to explore (this is, if he can sneak past his "babysitters"), especially when he finds out the Kazekage has a son his age too, that is kept locked inside his home at all times and has mystery surrounding him, and he has to show this boy what living is before it's too late. GaaNaru Friendship/Unconditional Love. AU

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of Masashi Kishimoto's characters or places.

**Author's Notes: **Hello dear readers! Before I could update any of my other fics, I needed to start this one... It's an AU story with child Naruto and Gaara, but it's an idea very dear to my heart, so you hope you like it! It will be quite sad, but hopefully not in a depressing way, rather in an heart-warming way. This first chapter is really just a prologue (though it could work as a non-spoilerish epilogue too xD), through Naruto's point of view, but I hope you like it!

Enjoy!

* * *

Is it possible for one person to have his destiny written at the age of eight? Because I feel that I have only one important mission to accomplish during my entire life: live your life as well.

How could you remain locked away for so long, how did you survive without having just the sky covering you once, without having just the mother-earth hold you once? But now I ask myself as well how could that same Earth not cry without the treasure that is you, without being charmed with every gesture you make so genuinely, every wonderful reaction you have before this world so strange to you?

I want to show you every thing there is for you to see, even the places so close to you that you never had the chance to see properly, and in exchange I want to gain the vision of your exciting smile...

I want to let you listen to all the songs nature emotionally echoes, of animals, rocks and plants, and in exchange I want to hear you laugh, sigh, exclaim in surprise, I want to hear you vocalize what you feel...

I want to let you know all the sweet and fresh, warm and intoxicating scents each being carries with it, all the bitter, salty, honey and spicy flavors each fruit and food can offer you, and in exchange I want to lose myself in the mixture of exotic scents and flavors that is you, a mixture I had never known before and will never know again...

I want to make you feel happiness and excitement, adrenaline and surprise, friendship and tenderness, longing and nostalgia, I want your heart to jump all the obstacles you couldn't jump before, I want all that is you to feel protected and loved, and in exchange all I want is to be the one to make you feel all that...

I want so much for life to embrace you and make you complete that I didn't even know it, only now that life's opposite twin has taken you do I realize that I can still have that wish fulfilled...

I will live for you, and through me you will be the everything that is us. I'll live more than any other man that has walked this universe, all for you...

And, when one day I leave this place and return to you, I'll settle in your embrace and retell you everything, just retell, because after all you have been with me all along...

You are my project in life, my final purpose. Through you, I will be me, in the same way you will be you through me.

We are one. Our souls are one life only, complete and perfect.

* * *

That's it, for the prologue!

Please let me know what you think!

kathlaida-princess logging out...


	2. Unknowledge

**WHILE THE EARTH SLEEPS**

**by kathlaida-princess**

**Summary: **Inspired by the song "While the Earth Sleeps" by Deep Forest. Child Naruto has the most boring friends in the world, so he usually spends his time exploring all of the Leaf Village, his beautiful home, all by himself. But one day, his father, the Hokage, is invited by the Sand Village's Kazekage to spend some sort of "diplomatic vacations" there, and he brings his wife and his reluctant son with him.

Things soon change when Naruto finds the Sand Village is also interesting to explore (this is, if he can sneak past his "babysitters"), especially when he finds out the Kazekage has a son his age too, that is kept locked inside his home at all times and has mystery surrounding him, and he has to show this boy what living is before it's too late. GaaNaru Friendship/Unconditional Love. AU

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of Masashi Kishimoto's characters or places.

**Author's Notes: **Hello dear readers! Wow, I can only say I'm very happy that you liked the idea for this story, so here is the first chapter :D First of all, I want to thank all the readers and **Niam-Ytak **(thank you so much! I do hope this story lives up to the promise ^^), **AerieTigre **(now that you mention it, it really does… Which isn't at all inappropriate ^^), **MirrorWakes **(don't worry, I don't abandon my fics :) I just sometimes take a while to update them… But I don't think it'll happen with this one. Thank you so much for the review!), **ednama **(wow, thank you! I shall give you more then :3), **YamiTenshi **(thanks! :D) and **Red Riding Freak **(OLHA AQUI EU A ESCREVER xD) for having left reviews! That is the best reward a writer can get!

The lyrics in the beginning of this chapter are from the song "While The Earth Sleeps" by Deep Forest and Peter Gabriel. Every chapter will have the lyrics of a song through Gaara's POV, since the rest of the story is through Naruto's POV.

Just so you know, this story will have fifteen chapters :D

Well, no more delays!

On with the story!

* * *

**CHAPTER 1**

**UNKNOWLEDGE**

"_Dali znaesh mila majko__  
__shto sum ne srekjna__  
__Cel den doma sama sedam__  
__Nadvor ne smejam.__"_

_(English translation__ from Macedonian)_

"_Do you know, mother,_

_How miserable I am?_

_All day I sit at home alone,_

_I am not allowed outside."_

"_**While The Earth Sleeps" – Deep Forest and Peter Gabriel**_

* * *

I remember well the time right before I met you.

But that's normal, right? People always remember dates that are important to them, and since it were the events of that day that led me to you, I guess that's something pretty easy to remember.

My home was the Village Hidden in the Leaves (a silly name because if they wanted to hide it in the leaves, then why are its gates, why is everything so big?), the capital of the Fire Country, and it was a very good place for the eight-year-old me to grow up (but, once again, I have to say, a Leaf Village in a Fire Country? What are these people thinking?). Since I was very young and not a natural genius, I was still in ninja academy, and (again on the subject of people who give silly names to things) lived with both my parents, who named me Naruto after what is my favorite food (which has to be some kind of cannibalism, if you really think about it). I never had any siblings or any close family besides my parents, but that wasn't what made me feel lonely. I have always had many close friends too, but it seems that there has always been a big difference about how they and I used our time.

Anyway, on that day in particular, I remember waking up to my mother calling me (or, more exactly, yelling at me) from the kitchen downstairs. Did I dream of anything? Well, I don't really remember, but I guess dreams were never a great part of my life before I met you. Of course my mother had to yell at me once again for me to definitively and drowsily step out of my bed, yell back at her to reassure her I was really awake and then lazily get from my pajamas to my actual clothing.

"Naruto!" Strangely, now that I'm telling you this, my mother's impatient voice sounds to me much more loving than angry... "Hurry up, squirt, your father has to go to work!"

"I'm coming!" was my equally loud reply as I forced the small collar of my t-shirt down my head. One thing my father constantly pointed out (and I'm sure he wasn't very proud or happy about it) was how I seemed to inherit both my mother's vocal cords and her temper. "I'm coming!" And my bare feet began their frantic chase downstairs.

The kitchen immediately came into my view, as well as my parents, after all, still having their breakfast. In fact, my father, sensing that my mother's previous warning was somewhat directed to him too, was focused on speeding up his consumption of the toast in his plate, but that didn't prevent him from sending a greeting smile at me as I passed by. I climbed onto my seat by his side and looked down at my own plate, frowning immediately.

"Mom... why didn't I get ramen today?" I whined, poking the soft slice of bread glistening with butter.

"Naruto, you know you only get to have ramen on special occasions, it is not good for you! Now hurry up and eat your toast! And Minato," my father jumped on his seat, "give your son the proper example, will you? Finish eating at once!"

But my father had his own weapons against my mother, just sit back and watch... Swallowing whatever he still had in his mouth, he faced her, moved his lips like this, in a lopsided, impish grin that made all his teeth show and all his face light up in an almost supernatural way, inevitably hypnotizing my mother. At that point, she could no longer get mad at him, but he carried on: he said, "Calm down, Kushina... How else are we supposed to enjoy to the fullest this wonderful breakfast you've made us?" Brilliant, isn't it? My mother didn't resist that (or my father's face) and I even saw her smile just a little as she replied, "Alright, alright... But please... just eat..." And, just like that, we were off the hook. I glanced at my father and nodded approvingly at him. He merely flashed back his special smile. Yellow Flash, now that's a very well-given name!

Now, I've already said I have my mom's voice and temper. But there was so much more to her! Kushina Uzumaki (then Namikaze, when she got married) was the strongest, most determined person me and my father had met. Anything she set her mind into she could accomplish it, and people unfairly called her stubborn because of that. I know I have that trait in me too, but I'm not stubborn, am I? Am I? Well, anyway, other than that, people say our faces look a bit alike: round, pudgy, always somewhat childish. And I know my mom sounded very severe and mean sometimes, but that was very easy to melt (like you saw my father do), and now that I think about it, even on those meaner moments, all she's ever wanted was my own good, and I thank her for that. I remember very well her dark, flaming orange hair, just cascading down her back, the clear eyes that seem to be a trademark of our family, the very white skin I would curiously touch all the time to make sure it wasn't snow after all. She was beautiful. It would take me a while to witness something as beautiful. Don't go blushing on me now!

My father was a completely different story. First of all, unlike my mother (and me, as a direct consequence), he was always a very calm, laid-back, everything-is-going-to-be-alright kind of person. I never heard him yell, get angry or depressed in my life. Even when he frowned, I could look at him and see his mind gears working in search for an easy solution for whatever problem we were having. Maybe he was like that because he was so clever. Maybe he only had to think for a while to be able to see all the answers to his life, clear and simple in front of his eyes. I don't really know, but whenever I was with him, I could always feel his calm running through me and I always believed in him. If he said everything would be all right, then it was true. He would make it always, he always made it alright. I hope… I only hope I was like that when… you know…

Anyway, that was why Minato Namikaze was the perfect Hokage. The people communicated their worries to him and he would always assure they were safe, and there's no hidden catch there. I've always looked up to my father and always felt proud saying I was the Fourth Hokage's son. Not that being the Fourth Hokage's son had any special treatments: people don't seem to take you too seriously when your height can barely reach their waist, and of course that annoyed me a little. Everyone wants to be acknowledged. But being his son made me feel that my own life would have a great purpose too, I was sure of it.

But, after knowing what I got from my mother, I guess it would be interesting too to know what I got from my father. And that would be the charms and the looks (let's not dwell too much on the lack of genius and calm from the list, okay?). Yeah, I said it right, the charms, that smile he used to melt my mom. Come on, why are you looking at me like that? You, above all people, have to agree with me! Did you know that my mom and dad could not stand each other when they were younger? It was my dad's charms to change that, and I like to think the same has happened between us. See, you cannot disagree with that.

Oh, and the looks too. The rowdy blonde hair too good to abide to the laws of physics is one of my father's legacies. Others include the blue eyes and the tan skin. In fact, people say that we are so alike that it is very difficult not to see us as father and son. But such confusions could happen… I guess…

But while I'm here describing my parents and myself through them, I think it's important to mention that both me and my dad carried on with our eating, a bit faster too, because we were really getting late. And I'd never admit it to my mother, but the toasts she made us were actually quite tasty, so I was drawing pleasure from my breakfast too. When the last piece of buttered bread had slid down both our throats, we hurried to get up and out and my mother handed me my school bag, pressing a kind kiss on the top of my head.

"Now you behave today, Naruto. And do just what your Iruka-sensei asks. I'm not particular fond of the complaints I receive because of you and those other three boys…" she confessed, and I merely pouted. Well, I'll talk about those later, don't worry.

"Yeah, mom…" As if I was such a bad boy…

My dad, after putting on his long robes with the fire motif I loved so much and the headband with the symbolic leaf drawn on it (just so you know, my father even used his charms on the Village Council, convincing them to allow him to use this headband instead of that ridiculous hat), approached my mother too, but to receive a different goodbye, a soft farewell in the lips. I stuck out my tongue at disgust at it, whining, "Come on, weren't you all in a hurry?"

At that, my parents parted and we were finally ready to go, as my mother waved us one last time goodbye. Step by step, we approached both our working places. The Hokage mansion and office were a bit ahead of the ninja academy, so my father would always walk me to school. At that hour of the day, as we moved in random synchrony with everyone else and many people bowed polite greetings at their leader, the village was already bursting with life. I grinned. After school I would have a great time outside.

But before we reached school, we passed by a very dear food stand (at least to me…) and the warm, slurpy, inviting scent that came from it made all my body react. "No," was all my father said. "You heard your mother, no ramen."

And there was my personal anti-climax. A few more minutes passed by after that and my school finally came into view. But my father didn't say goodbye to me like my mother did: he merely ruffled my hair into a more cheerful mess and I giggled back.

"See ya, dad!"

"Bye, Naruto. And above all, have fun. Don't be too worried of what your mother says."

And I nodded with a smile as I watched him carry on with his own path. Now that I think about it, I guess that was the best advice he could have given me. Have fun, use every moment life grants you to bring some happiness into your day. So very few people realize this, especially when they are as young as we were.

Anyway, seeing as I was unsurprisingly late, I ran my way inside the academy and to my class, but not without my thoughts travelling back to my father. Probably this is going to sound very old (mainly because all other kids wanted it too), but my dream at the time was to become a Hokage just like him. But without the paperwork, just with the awesome fighting and with everyone looking up at you, being able to look to all of my beautiful home. I remember my dad laughing gently when I confessed him that. And he just told me that being Hokage was actually very simple, but the one task that was granted to you was quite difficult: the responsibility to make the best decisions for the lives of everyone around you. It all sounded really boring to me at the time, but it didn't make me give up on that dream. I still had time, all the time in the world.

But at that moment my time didn't seem all that much, and the look my teacher gave me while I stuttered some apologies and landed on my seat in the back of the room was a promise of future trouble. I had a knack for getting detentions from Iruka-sensei. Which doesn't surprise me much, because right after he turned his ponytailed head to the blackboard and resumed his explanation on kunai trajectories, my own head immediately turned to the three classmates around me, who were as focused on the class as I was.

Oh, my class! The greatest morons I had ever met, but still they were my morons.

There was Sasuke Uchiha, the youngest son of the Uchiha clan and the snobbiest child you could ever meet. You could never touch him nor borrow his things and you could only speak to him when he gave you permission and only if you really got lucky would he actually listen to you. He was perfectly aware that his family was one of the best recognized in the village and he used every second in his life to remind us all of that too. Crazy as it seems, this kind of behavior actually made him the most popular boy in class, especially when he was already a natural genius. The girls wouldn't leave him. But they had strong competition… The only time Sasuke would lose his composure was when his family came to pick him up at school, especially when it was his "dear big brother" Itachi. Sasuke would screech out loud and mindlessly harass any limb of Itachi he could grab hold of, scenes that were viewed by the girls as an important class to gain their love's attention and by the rest of us (the NORMAL part of us) as the most embarrassing thing in the world. But the girls really took those "classes" seriously. At the age of six, they would already paint their nails and curl their eyelashes, as a way to look a bit more like their fearsome competitor Itachi Uchiha. But Sasuke still had his friendly moments. He just had them in private, where no one could see him and spoil his reputation.

There were Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka too. All girls with very few exceptions were infatuated to Sasuke, but these two took it to a whole different level. They had both had their moments with him and they had both been rejected by him, but that didn't stop them from being rivals at heart, dangerous rivals too. I… I had a crush on Sakura at the time. She's always been very pretty, and very like my mother in personality. But she was actually very mean and nothing really happened between us.

Shino Aburame and Hinata Hyuuga were the two shyest classmates I had. Well, Shino was more of an anti-social than properly shy, but either way I never spent much time with him. Bugs were always surrounding him, and they seemed to have some sort of weird understanding between them. As for Hinata, she too was the heiress of an important family in the Leaf Village, the Hyuugas, but she was completely different from Sasuke (even if equally strange) and one of the only girls that didn't swoon over him. She was always very nice to me, though she stuttered and fidgeted (such funny words, huh?) and blushed, signs I was only able to interpret much, much later. Yeah, I am that dense when it comes to romance, you know that…

Then there were my three buddies, who were just as moronic as the rest, but with whom I spent most of my time. There was Shikamaru Nara, who was just as smart as Sasuke but didn't let anyone see it. If he could choose, he would spend all day just lying around, preferably under the clouds, and would always advise us not to spend too much energy on unnecessary things. Life's already complicated enough without extra troubles. I am actually surprised that he wasn't sleeping on his desk that day: he had that habit. There was also Kiba Inuzuka. People said he was the closest person to me you could find in our school, at least personality-wise, but I can only disagree. I am nothing like him, he was an idiot. Really. But, unlike me, he was an idiot who had as much luck as Sasuke had with the girls, but they still ran after the Uchiha first. Kiba always carried a puppy with him, Akamaru, and got all mushy whenever they were together. It was good teasing material. Finally, there was Chouji Akimichi, a boy almost as shy as Hinata and Shikamaru's best friend. He eventually became our best friend too, and quite the nice one too, except if you ever mentioned his physical… attributes…

Anyway, the four of us had a very important subject to discuss on that day's class. As a very united quartet, we usually participated in all kinds of activities together and since we were all eight years old, hormones had already gone crazy, so we now had a competition of how many girls each one of us could kiss. Ironically, Sasuke was the undeniable winner of our competition and he wasn't even participating in it… (yes, even though he wasn't at all happy with the overflow of small women crowding him, he would often just take on their wishes and kiss them, as in a last resort to be left alone by the girls)

So, while Iruka-sensei now widened his explanations to shurikens, we promptly presented our updated reports of the week, listing our victories, our losses and our impasses. Shikamaru was the first to speak.

"Well, I did kiss that girl that was doing her diplomacy homework at the library… it was nothing special, I don't know why you go through all those troublesome things just for that… But when I kissed her, she began inventing things about relationships and stuff and then I ran away… What a drag, we are just kids… I don't have energy for a relationship…"

I chuckled. Typical Shikamaru, really, thinking like that. Then, it was Kiba's turn.

"Oh, I kissed every girl Sasuke kissed! Akamaru seems to help in these things. And one of the girls even wore a bra already!" God, it's so silly how excited we got with that information… "Ain't that awesome? She still said she liked Sasuke's kiss better, though… But it was good! What about you, Chouji?"

He started fidgeting when his name was called, a bit like Hinata. He explained his embarrassment right away, "Weeell… I kissed one girl too this week… But I bit her by accident, so it didn't go well at all… I think she hates me now…"

All of us muttered words of consolation to Chouji, but Shikamaru was the one to truly brighten him up. "Like I said, don't worry too much about it, buddy… You'll have the chance to kiss a real woman when you get older, you'll see…"

The other boy just chuckled in reply, "Thank you. But we still need to hear Naruto!"

And that's when things got complicated… Of all four, I was the only one who still hadn't kissed a girl. The whole thing seemed so messy and I had other more important things to spend my time on, you'll see… Not even Sakura made me want to kiss. I was just explaining that when Kiba interrupted me, "Oh, just forget about Sakura, will you? I spied on her on the locker room the other day and she was naked and if it weren't for the pink hair I wouldn't even know she was a girl! There are plenty other girls out there, better ones, just choose… You're the Hokage's son, that should serve some purpose…"

But I shook my head with conviction. They didn't get it, I didn't want to be around there kissing girls… "Nah, Kiba, forget it… I mean, everyone's kissing each other these days… Are you really okay knowing that you are kind of kissing guys too, through the girls? Kissing Sasuke?" I remember my body shivering at the thought alone. Strangely, there was some sort of déjà vu feeling in it, go figure… Ew.

I could see the three of them wanted to protest, but they weren't able to.

"You four on the back!" Iruka-sensei's voice startled us. "I would like to know what your conversation is about for you to be so distracted!"

I tried to remain silent, but Kiba carelessly said, "I'm sure Iruka-sensei has never kissed a girl either…" a bit too loudly, which made us laugh and our teacher yell, "That's enough! The four of you, you all get detention!"

And there we went again… Only many years later did I discover that Iruka-sensei had really never kissed a girl before, and not that many boys either… So I guess we deserved that. But while we were on detention (which didn't feel like it anymore, since we got them every single day), all of us side by side and facing the wall of an empty corridor, I was still thinking of what I was going to do after school.

Taking advantage of a moment of Iruka's distraction, I faced Kiba and asked, "Hey, wanna go to the forest today? The sun's great and I think I've found a place where that awesome bird might be!"

But, like on so many other days, he just shook his head, "Nah, can't do. I stole this awesome book from the library last day, about kissing… I know I'm a bit too young to check it out, but they won't even notice it… I'll be practicing with it this afternoon…"

Ew, again. The others were just as busy, or just as lazy. It looked like I'd have another afternoon alone…

After an hour, our detention was over. Iruka-sensei let us go, but not without lecturing us one more time (poor man, now I truly feel sorry for him, for everything we put him through…). I said goodbye to the other three and just went home. I still had to have lunch before I could go outside.

My mom also lectured me over a plate of boiled fish (still no ramen allowed), but hers was much lighter. I guess, with the experience she has with me, if I came home one day with no detention, that would be strange. My dad didn't come to lunch, but that was normal. My mother usually sent something to his office before I arrived from the academy. Excited as I was, lunch didn't take long, and soon I was ready to leave. My mom put a small snack on my backpack and kissed the top of my head again, saying, "No friends are going with you today either?"

"Nope…" I replied, discontentment surely showing in my voice. Though I loved doing what I did, I preferred if someone would come with me…

"Well, I know you'll have fun either way," my mom wisely said. "Bye, squirt."

"Bye, mom…"

And there I went…

So what was my mystery hobby, you ask? Well, it included a bit of everything, bird watching, bug hunting, charting and hiking, but most of all, it was exploring… When I was younger, I found a wonderful book on my dad's office, a book that contained everything you could find in the Leaf Village. Since I had so much free time and my dad always told me to do my best to make the most of it, I knew I wanted to find everything in that book. Now that I was walking my way outside the village's walls, I had that same book in my hands, and I was facing the picture of a gorgeous bird, all blue and fluffy, that I hoped to find that day. There was a tree just tall enough and I remembered seeing a nest there. I had my fingers crossed already.

Yes, to me, seeing all of that, living my own village, meant much more than just staying at home or kissing some random girls with very little satisfaction. I knew no one really thought like me, and I felt like maybe I was the baby there… After all, my hormones weren't still that flared up and I kept on playing the same games and exploring adventures from when I was younger… Maybe I was doing it all wrong… Maybe I should do what they did, but now as I laid on the fluffy grass outside the Leaf Village, just letting all of this beauty take me in and embrace me, that thought saddened me… I just wished I hadn't been so alone.

It turned out I did find the bird, I did see it in all its glory, moving, flying, singing. It was beautiful, its feathers just melting with the heavens above. But no one was there to see me smile, rejoice with me in that amazing discovery. Not even when I laid back on the grass and set my next goal (this rare tree, since I have a great fascination with plants) no one was there to motivate me, approve my choice…

I sighed to the big blue sky above me. I did that a lot. Why did all of my friends have to be so boring? I rummaged through my backpack and ate my snack. Then, I remembered I had another book with me that day: something I found laying about on my dad's office too. I took that book out as well and read the title on the cover. Make Out Paradise… Of course I remembered the name, Kakashi Hatake, who had been one of my father's students and still had a great friendship with our family, was always reading that book.

Well, I knew Kakashi had a personality very similar to my dad, and I held my dad in great respect, so that book ought to be good.

However, after just reading the first page, I closed it back again, making an effort to keep my snack inside my stomach. The last thing I needed was another book about kissing… and other things. Ew.

I remember making a theory about the world that day: when it gives you one good thing, it has to give you many other bad things to keep balance. So, I got to see the bird, but the rest of the day just seemed to suck the life out of me…

Finally giving into boredom, I got up and began heading home. Unfortunately, I wasn't yet prepared to find the plant, so there was nothing left there for me to do… And I remember it wasn't even sunset yet…

However, as I crossed the gigantic gates to my village, one of the guards, his name was Kotetsu, called out my name and handed me a small envelope.

"Naruto, so lucky to find you here! This has just arrived from the Sand Village, and it's a message to your father… Can you just give it to him, please? It's not that urgent, but that way I won't have to go all the way to your place and back…"

I sighed again. I had a better question, why was everyone so lazy and boring? But it would be a bit rude to deny him that favor, now would be? I took the envelope.

"It's alright, I'll take it…" was my reply.

"Oh, thank you, Naruto! See ya tomorrow, then!" he sounded too excited.

And I merely waved him goodbye and I went home, with the envelope in my hand.

Did you know that later that day, while Kotetsu was walking by the river with other paperwork in hands, he slipped and everything just fell, getting all wet and destroyed by the water?

I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't taken the envelope with me… I was so carefree and still so bored that I didn't realize how important it was at the time… It was just a note from the Sand, and not even urgent (if it got lost, I'm sure resending it wouldn't be worth it)… It's funny how things aren't always what they seem…

I went home and had the envelope in my hand. And I wasn't even thinking about it, I was just hoping that my mother could at least have some misery and make this day more exciting by allowing me to have ramen for dinner…

Who's not being open-minded now, huh?

Life has these funny things.

**END OF CHAPTER**

**

* * *

**

Wooo, first chapter is finished! :D

And I did have fun writing it! Hope it was to your liking! Thanks for having read it, please tell me what you think through reviewing! :D

See ya next time…

kathlaida-princess logging out…


	3. Tedium

**WHILE THE EARTH SLEEPS**

**by kathlaida-princess**

**Summary: **Inspired by the song "While the Earth Sleeps" by Deep Forest. Child Naruto has the most boring friends in the world, so he usually spends his time exploring all of the Leaf Village, his beautiful home, all by himself. But one day, his father, the Hokage, is invited by the Sand Village's Kazekage to spend some sort of "diplomatic vacations" there, and he brings his wife and his reluctant son with him.

Things soon change when Naruto finds the Sand Village is also interesting to explore (this is, if he can sneak past his "babysitters"), especially when he finds out the Kazekage has a son his age too, that is kept locked inside his home at all times and has mystery surrounding him, and he has to show this boy what living is before it's too late. GaaNaru Friendship/Unconditional Love. AU

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of Masashi Kishimoto's characters or places.

**Author's Notes: **Hello dear readers! Having *finally* updated the other fics for other fandoms, I bring you the second chapter of this story :D Once again, I'm really glad to know that this still interests people to read!

Thanks to all that have read this, and a big thanks to for having left motivational reviews! :'D

Special thank you goes to **YamiTenshi** (I'm glad, that part was taken from personal experience, the kids in my class when I was eight were crazy with hormones and some of them were already quite developed xD Ah, Kyuubi. The entire story is built on that premise: what if the Nine-Tailed Fox never existed and Naruto's life became quite different? But, yes, at least for me, it will be interesting to write their connection without them having THAT connection :D and, oh, that happens rather often, the missing words… I have to take a look at that, thanks for pointing it out!), **DarkAngelJudas**, **Tainted-reflection-126** (well, from my own experience, the kids in my class were a lot like this – and so were my sister's… Poor Iruka xD And don't worry, Gaara will appear in due time ^^), **Alcorion** (thank you! I try xD) and **NaruGaaFan**!

The song at the start of this chapter is "The Patient" by my favorite band, Tool. They are one of the few bands I know that can truly teach me how to live, so you might want to give it a try? (if you happen to try, listen to "Reflection" :D It's long, but very worth it!).

Enough advertising, I think ^^;

On with the story!

* * *

**CHAPTER 2**

**TEDIUM**

"_If there were no desire to heal__  
__The damaged and broken met along,_

_This tedious path I've chosen here,__  
__I certainly would've walked away by now._

_I still may. And I still may.__  
__Be patient.__"_

"_**The Patient" – Tool**_

* * *

"It's an invitation," were my father's first words, as soon as he finished reading the letter. But he wasn't smiling at the time, he was frowning (and that was rare). "From the Sand's Kazekage."

And that was the part to make him frown.

At the time (and of course you remember that), the Sand and Leaf Villages didn't exactly get along that well… There had always been a strong rivalry between our shinobi and our leaders since way back, and every time a meeting was held involving the two, it was always filled with unsaid words of rage, hypocrisy (if you prefer it that way…), anyway, not pleasant, and my dad didn't like that one bit. Those feelings probably came up when my village won the war and yours was a bit prejudiced because of that, leaving sour mouths all around… See, my Iruka-sensei would be quite proud of me if he could hear me now, his History classes did work!

Right after my father told us who the sender was, my mother, sudden in her actions, ripped the paper from his hands (as he protested something about papercuts and calm-self-down) and frowned too, asking, "Are you going to accept it?"

Only I was at completely at loss of what was happening, though I kind of sensed something very, very boring was about to begin. If my father said yes, it would mean leaving the Leaf, and even though I didn't have much to do there, what would I do at the Sand, in a place both my parents and my companions hated? I had a bad feeling about the whole thing…

And of course my father, who had a huge knack for getting himself into things bigger than him (I hated him for it at the time, because it'd make me and my mother worry, but now I realize that's what made him such a great Hokage…), had to make that bad feeling real, saying, "Yes."

His frown softened into a pensive look. "If he wants us to meet, it means this is a chance to change how things are. And I'm not missing it. I'll go."

I wanted to protest, but my mom was faster than me.

"And we're going with you!"

_What?? _I wish I could have yelled. I had faith in my mother agreeing with me…

"We're not letting you go ago alone, you'll need our strength, right, squirt?"

And I felt myself give up before my stubborn brain did… I remembered muffling a sigh before saying, "Right, mom…"

And from then on, everything was beyond my control, their decision was made, and for the best or the worst, I was to remain by their side through it all… I'm sorry if I sound so bitter, but at the time it all felt so wrong… I was bored, unmotivated, I was trying my best to understand if I was actually doing the right thing at the Leaf Village, playing around while my friends were addicted to their hormones, and they wanted me to leave it, even if only for a while. That would confuse me even more, and we both know I'm not the brightest thinker. Once I got to the Sand, should I explore it or try to act more adult? I didn't know and I couldn't find a way to know it. My dad would be wonderful at solving a problem like that easily, but he was busy enough already… Ah well, maybe if I just crossed my fingers and went to the Sand everything would sort out by itself… which actually ended up happening…

We were to leave for the Sand on the next day, at sunset (and no ramen for that dinner either, by the way…), which meant I still had some time to go to school and explore a little (if I felt like it) before we left…

But before I went to sleep that night, it seems my mother did notice I wasn't at all happy with the way things were decided. While I was in bed and trying to force my sour thoughts into some harmony, she entered my room and came to me, with kind touches that remind me of the caresses you're giving me now, as her weight sank into my tiny mattress… She asked me, "Come on, squirt, what's bothering you? I thought you'd be all excited to go to a new place and all… Where's your exploring spirit!"

I turned to face her and then (like I still do now) pouted, as I answered, letting it all out, "It's bored! This is all so boring, I don't think I'll want to explore ever again… Besides, why can't dad and the other guy just get along already? Why does it have to affect us too? I don't understand…"

That was a problem I only remembered in that moment, but when I thought more about it, it did upset me too…

"Oh, silly…" my mom got closer, soothed my hair. "It's not that easy… People are… complicated… They… they're so afraid to hurt each other that they get apart, but they end up being hurt either way…"

I was blunt in my reply. "That didn't make any sense…"

"Exactly!" my mom nodded. "It doesn't make sense, because you can always talk to someone and try to repair things with them, if you want… don't you do that with your friends?"

And I nodded too. "Yeah…" then remembered how sad they sometimes made me feel, because we spent our time so differently… "… but sometimes I just wish I could stop doing that… sometimes I ask, why bother with them when I'll end up being alone anyway?" Like today. Like every day. Like whenever I wanted to do something awesome and they would always have something else to do. But maybe I was really wrong… My dilemma played itself in my head again and I remember hugging my knees for more comfort.

But that earned me a determined reprehension from my mother.

"No, no, no! Did you listen to what I said, Naruto?" she was shaking her head vigorously and her eyes were very serious when she looked at me. I realize now, how important her words then were… "THAT'S the problem, the obsession with the hurting… Everyone hurts. Every single person in this world has hurt another one, on purpose or not. I have hurt you, Naruto, and you have hurt me too. But do you think we should sacrifice all the other things we have together, the good things, because of a moment of hurting? Or haven't you had good moments with your friends?"

"I guess…" And it was true. They might be a bunch of morons, but I still enjoyed messing around with Iruka-sensei with them, or working together to keep our reputation up against Sasuke… And the three of them sometimes even cared enough to ask about my expeditions… I could complain all I wanted about our differences, but there were many things keeping us together, valuable things… I found myself smiling again. "I have. And I wouldn't have missed them for the world!"

"That's what I'm talking about, squirt!" my mom exclaimed as she ruffled my hair, making me giggle. "And the important part is, no matter how bad things are, you can always fix them, with enough persistence and, of course, care… That's why we need to be by your father's side when he goes… He'll need our strength to fix our problems with the Sand, and we'll be there! This is very important, a great chance. Do you understand it now?"

"I think I do, mom," I replied, trying to bring my hair into order (and failing, so beware of the state you leave it now). "So, in a way, I'll be making the important-Hokage-decisions dad always speaks about, right? If I go and help him, I'll be a better leader in the future!"

"You are a fast learner after all!" my mother laughed. "Exactly. You'll have to behave, though. And be calm, wise and collected. A young man. Am I clear?"

"Yes, ma'am!" I laughed as well, saluting her quite dramatically. It was impossible for me to behave like she wanted at the time, but still I was so determined. And I think that always was enough for her…

"Another thing, Naruto…" and I had a feeling it would be a serious thing… "About exploring… even if no one else feels up to it, if it's really what you want to do, go on with it! You know how far I came to be here today, and I don't regret it. In fact, I'm sad I couldn't see even more stuff as I grew older… Don't let the same happen to you, or you'll feel sorry for yourself later…"

Well, this didn't exactly solve my problem, but at least my mom's words helped me want to sleep soundly that night. I nodded, and though I still felt a bit confused, I smiled and said, "I won't. Thank you, mom, for helping…"

"That's what moms are for, squirt…" she replied, and began tucking me in. It's funny how sleepy I always got when she did that, to the point of almost being asleep when my head landed on the pillow…

I remember her saying good night with that sweet voice of hers (you had to wait for it, but it would come out, every once in a while…) and then I was far away, somewhat at sleepy peace, after all…

Dreams, I never had any… Sleep had always been like a black cloak of solitude thinking back then… My dreams only came later, when my dream come true died. But we're getting ahead of ourselves!

The next day, however, our last one in the Leaf, was good for making my mom's comfort vanish…

News that the Hokage was leaving travelled fast, and after our rushed-breakfast-now-goodbye-and-have-a-good-day(-still-without-ramen) ritual was over and I was headed to school, my journey to the Sand soon became the main topic of our conversation in class, behind Iruka's back and his lessons on History of the Fire Country…

"That sucks," was Kiba's only comment, which left no room for hope for a good time. "Really, Sand's the worst place you could go with your parents."

"Why, Kiba, a little optimism never…" I tried to argue but…

"He's right, you know…" Chouji continued. "My dad says people never smile or laugh in the Sand. Never. Not even when you tell them the FUNNIEST JOKE EVER."

"And what is the funniest joke ever?" I asked, curious.

Some moments of suspense passed before he replied, dumbfounded, "I don't really know…"

"It doesn't matter…" Kiba resumed his theory. "Do you know that sandbox we have at the park? All scratchy, smelly, that gets everywhere and is hot and uncomfortable? Imagine that a million times bigger. And imagine yourself living there… I'm telling you, it sucks big time…"

"But it's a new place to explore…?" I tried, using my mother's ace.

"It's a _desert_. It _sucks._" And Kiba wasn't open to discussion in that point.

But I wasn't ready to give up just yet… So, I turned to…

"Shikamaru… you're a smart guy. There must be something, at least one thing, that is good at the Sand, right?"

But he wasn't at all tuned to our discussion…

"Just let me sleep…" he protested.

And all hope was gone…

"Well…" the dog-boy was willing to concede something after all… "the only good thing that can come from it is the many foreign girls you can kiss! That way, we could finally beat Sasuke! What do you say?"

I refused to give an answer to that. Really.

Somewhere along the rest of the class, Iruka threatened us with detention, but since I was free from it because of the journey, so were the other three…

That's why we all arrived home considerably early that day… which left me with more free time before I had to leave… I returned to outside the village, but that time I wanted to say goodbye to a very special place… Across the fresh grass and the tall trees, the blue-bird's nest and all the many things I had discovered and still had to find, was a lake, the most beautiful lake I had seen in my entire life. It was a mixture of blue (of the sky and the water), green (of the grass and the trees) and white (of the sun and the scales of the silver fish there), and I could stare at it for hours, especially when I needed to think (like now), and all my problems seemed to feel a lot easier…

… and then seemed like a good time to use it too.

However (and I was no longer surprised, since everything was getting too random for me to process…), the lively colors reflected nothing but the worry and the confusion in my eyes without lessening them, and I had an unexpected visitor…

Kakashi Hatake was standing right behind me, tall, silent, and waiting. He had silver hair, though he was still very young, and he was my father's brilliant student, the one I had talked about before… I was always startled whenever he chose to appear, and I was guessing he wanted to say goodbye.

But I, of course, was wrong.

"I've heard you are in possession of a very valuable object of mine…" was his introducing sentence.

I remember blushing madly every time I remembered what was _inside_ his so valuable object, of half-disgust, half-embarrassment, which happened then too. However, I also knew we mustn't keep Kakashi waiting for his book for too long, otherwise bad consequences will come from that (very bad ones).

So, rustling inside my backpack, I got the orange book from it with most care, delivering it safely back to its owner as said owner was grinning quite noticeably, though he always wore a mask to cover his face. Yeah, that's Kakashi…

"There, have it. I don't know how you handle the stuff…" I sighed.

"You're still too naïve," was his answer. "And believe me, it's way better when you try it than when you read about it…"

"Then why won't you go try it away from here?" I bluntly asked, bitterly even.

"Hey, easy, Naruto!" Kakashi soothed me, raising his hands and closing his eyes as he smiled kindly. You could tell he was smiling by the way his eyes were closed like that… "So your mom was right, you really are a bit on the down side…"

"Why shouldn't I?" I mumbled somberly.

"Because you might be surprised. And you might actually like it. You know your friends can have a different opinion from you. Just go there, and you'll see it. I'm sure your mom already told you that, and she came all the way from the Whirlpool Country."

"Hm." I wasn't going to discuss that all over again. "We'll see about that…"

"Good," and Kakashi was still mysteriously smiling. "Well, I'll let you be, there are other matters I need to attend to now…" Make Out Paradise-related, I'd guess… He stood up and ruffled my hair, like so many others before him. "Have a good trip. And do be pleasantly surprised…"

And, with a poof of smoke, he was gone and I was left alone once more. I followed, when I realized I wouldn't find any comfort in the lake anymore (and I didn't have the spirit to find the fantastic plant from the previous day at the moment), I went home early.

But time did pass by too fast, like it always does when you don't want it, and I still hadn't gotten good memories from the village for my journey…

On the next moments, I was done packing and my mother was yelling for us to get in the caravan, since it was getting late. I dragged my suitcase down and my father took even the Hokage hat with him, while mom still looked worried about my bad disposition.

Yes, we did travel on a caravan to the Sand Village. Many horses (that would be traded by camels somewhere ahead), their owner, several ANBU body-guards and us. The sun was setting and it was our queue to leave, which we did.

The carriage made a boring, monotone sound as it rolled forward, and the bumpy movements made me sway around annoyingly… Ah well…

And I don't know, but at the time I felt like I was losing a very precious part of my life by leaving. I knew it would only be for a few days, but I had this crazy feeling I would be proven wrong about what I believed, everything, and I would break beyond repair because of it. How much of it is wrong, and how much of it is right?

I don't know, but both my parents said something important that day, gave me more valuable information about our group "mission".

But first, my mom insisted on Kiba's point…

"Cheer up already, squirt! You'll see you'll get yourself an exotic girlfriend! A bunch of girlfriends too!"

"I'm not interested."

And I think, deep down, my mother was glad to hear it. I'm sure she didn't quite like the thought of her only son whoring himself around…

"Anyway…" my father coughed and then said, "it's important the two of you know what I'm planning to do… I think formal meetings with the Kazekage would be enough, but just in case, I think it'd be good to have a pleasant dinner with his family, all of us…"

"Wow…" my mother exclaimed. "That man has a family?"

"Well…" my dad carried on, "sort of… His wife is dead, but he has two children, a girl and a boy, both older than you, Naruto, and his brother-in-law, their uncle, lives with them too. I'm not entirely aware of how they all get along, but if we _all_ behave, I'm sure it'll make things a lot easier…"

I considered my father's words, especially the part that mentioned two older children. "Will they be less boring than my friends?" I asked, a bit hopeful that this wouldn't be all in vain.

"Probably, yes… But I wouldn't get my hopes too high, people in the Sand are very… introverted…" was his reply.

"Intro-what?" I exclaimed.

"Somber," my mother helped. "But I'm sure you'll have enough energy for the three of you, squirt…"

"Hm…" was that the only sound I could pronounce then?? I remembered Chouji's explanation with the funniest joke of the world. "Will there be ramen?" and I actually lit up then: if there was ramen, then I could take anything…

"If you behave…" both my parents said, "… yes."

And, for the first time in hours, I smiled and settled on my seat, nodding enthusiastically. My parents went on discussing about Hokage-Kazekage-pseudo-flirting techniques (why the hell this seems so suggestive to me now??), meeting plans and exchanging motivation, and as they talked, I faced the window of the moving carriage and hope sparked inside me, for a bit…

Hope that I wouldn't be a disappointment for the best Hokage ever.

Hope that I would find something exciting to take up my free time.

Hope that everything at the Sand would be solved.

Hope that I was doing the right thing, following my wishes, wanting to see it all.

But, above all, hope that this entire journey would be worth all the trouble…

And, you know, it's funny how you were all those hopes come true…

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER**

Finally, too!

Again, I loved writing this, and I have to say, this story gets me VERY emotional every time I write on it…

I promise: Gaara will appear in the next chapter!! I'm sorry for his absence, but this is how the story needs to go.

I hope you liked this! See ya next chapter!

kathlaida-princess logging out…


End file.
